Florida Dems Challenge Medical Cannabis Smoking Ban

Florida Democrats filed a motion to overturn a medical cannabis smoking ban which is already being challenged in the courts. Read more in this post from High Times.

States that were hesitant to legalize medical marijuana use have typically adopted a “no smoking” policy toward the medicine itself. Bans against smoking medical cannabis mainly stem from public health concerns and the conventional wisdom that smoking just isn’t healthy. But Democratic lawmakers in Florida filed a motion Thursday to undo the state’s medical marijuana smoking ban. Their efforts come in the middle of a pending lawsuit against the ban, in hopes of resolving the dispute.

Morgan, who spearheaded and financed the campaign that ultimately led Amendment 2’s approval, says that medical access to cannabis is a constitutional right. And the medical marijuana smoking ban violates that right and is therefore unenforceable, the lawsuit claims.

John Morgan and his head lawyer in the lawsuit, Jon Mills, accuse the Florida legislature of making medical judgments they aren’t qualified to make.

“By redefining the constitutionally defined term ‘medical use’ to exclude smoking, the Legislature substitutes its medical judgment for that of ‘a licensed Florida physician’ and is in direct conflict with the specifically articulated Constitutional process,” the lawsuit states.

Starting in the 2018 legislative session, which begins in January, lawmakers will consider Sen. Gary Farmer’s bill, SB 726, which would overturn the ban on smoking herbal preparations of medical cannabis. Farmer introduced the bill on Thursday.

Despite Republican opposition to the inhalation of medical cannabis, the current amendment does allow patients to inhale vaporized cannabisextracts and concentrates.

But backers of Amendment 2 say no method of cannabis consumption should be prohibited.

And Farmer, in a prepared statement, said:

“An overwhelming majority of voters ratified Amendment 2, and its intent could not be more clear: to allow for the use of medical marijuana, including smoking.”

For his part, Republican House Majority Leader Ray Rodrigues has vowed to keep the medical marijuana smoking ban in place.